Is The Price Of Rarity Justified?

December 10, 2015

As Burgundy’s prices continue to either stay high or get higher as top Bordeaux gets cheaper, how high is too high for Burgundy?

The fortunes of Burgundy since those of Bordeaux went south in early 2011 are well documented and the Liv-ex Burgundy 150 index is the best performing sub-index on the Fine Wine 1000 so far this year – up 2.1%.

It was recently reported that first Italy and then Champagne had replaced Burgundy as the most traded regions on Liv-ex behind Bordeaux, bumping Burgundy down to fourth place.

Strictly in terms of value however, Burgundy remains one of the top performers due in no small measure to the fabulous prices fetched by its particular jewel-in-the-crown, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC).

The consensus was broadly that most wines had hit their upper limit and that in fact DRC had some time ago and had been coasting for some years; its rarity and over-subscribed demand protecting it from a bubble a la Lafite.

The Burgundy 150 is dominated by DRC’s various labels (six of them), with wines from another 10 domaines (five white, five red) making up the rest.

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